Lots media pundits are offering their conclusions as who won or lost during James Comey’s testimony before the Senate yesterday.
And those conclusions are all over the map. But one thing is clear: Marco Rubio dropped a bomb on Comey from which his reputation will probably never recover.
After recapping the requests made of Comey by Trump which resulted countless leaks to the press, Rubio questioned quite appropriately why “the only thing that’s never been leaked is the fact that the president was not personally under investigation.”
And it’s the one leak that probably would’ve prevented all the ensuing brouhaha. Very telling.
Here’s more from Redstate…
By the time the gavel called the hearing with former FBI Director James Comey to order it was obvious that his testimony was going to have a Rashomon quality with different people having a different interpretation of events. For me, the crux of the spectacle was in Senator Marco Rubio’s questioning of Comey.
Partial Transcript (I’m including the full transcript at the bottom of the post):
RUBIO: But going back, the three requests were; number one, be loyal; number two, let the Mike Flynn thing go, he’s a good guy, he’s been treated unfairly; and, number three, can you please tell the American people what these leaders in Congress already know, what you already know, what you’ve told me three times — that I’m not under — personally under investigation?
COMEY: Those are the three things he asked. Yes, sir.
RUBIO: You know, this investigation is full of leaks, left and right. I mean, we’ve learned more from the newspapers sometimes than we do from our open hearings, for sure.
You ever wonder why, of all the things in this investigation, the only thing that’s never been leaked is the fact that the president was not personally under investigation, despite the fact that both Democrats and Republicans in the leadership of Congress knew that, and have known that for weeks?
If Rubio wanted to be even more pointed, it would have been fair to ask why, of all the conversations between Comey and Trump, the only information Comey never leaked was that Trump was not under investigation. That wouldn’t even have triggered the whole “duty to correct” smokescreen that Comey threw up yesterday.
It is hard to look at this exchange and come away with any conclusion that does not acknowledge that, regardless of any other motives Comey had in the leaks, one of the reasons for the leak was to damage Trump. The fact that the questions that cut to the core of Comey’s motivation came from someone who is no friend or ally of Trump makes them more powerful.
